【英语中国】中国无缘世界杯无碍赌球热情

China didn't make the cut for this year's World Cup in South Africa, but according to the police, thousands of people have still gotten in on the soccer action by participating in illegal online gambling rings.

As of Saturday, police have already confiscated $102 million in illegal funds and arrested some 3,600 suspects for illegal gambling in connection with the World Cup, according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Illicit gambling in Chinese soccer seems about as common as shin guards, and experts have said it's also a key reason China hasn't done well on the international soccer stage. Both performance and credibility has suffered amid accusations of match fixing and rumors that players pay for spots on the national roster.

Though that hasn't dampened interest in online gambling.

'The state of our country's online illegal gambling activities is still a very grim situation,' a police official told reporters, according to the Legal Daily. He largely blamed offshore gambling syndicates for 'infiltrating' the country, according to the report.

While Chinese officials like to blame foreigners for the illegal activities, corruption has a long history in Chinese soccer.

Traditionally, national-team hopefuls had to pay tens of thousands of yuan in bribes, said Rowan Simons, author of a book on soccer in China, according to CNN.

'Players have come out and said they can't play for the national team because they can't afford it,' he said, according to the report.

Several recent high-profile corruption cases seem to have grabbed officials' attention, however. The arrest of Nan Yong, former leader of the Chinese Football Association, earlier this year on charges of corruption, for example, has forced officials to vow to clean up the sport.

High-profile match-fixing cases have dominated the sports press in recent months. In one of the most famous cases, police say former World Cup referee Lu Jun - known as the 'Golden Whistle' - took bribes and fixed matches. If convicted, Lu could face the death penalty.

In May, police in Guangdong province cracked a gambling operation linked to a ring in Hong Kong, according to a report in Titan Sports Weekly. Roughly $1 billion in illegal funds flowed between the mainland and the territory each month as part of the operation; police have frozen more than 1.4 billion yuan ($205 million) in the investigation.

'There's corruption at every single level of the game,' Simons told CNN. 'It's an indictment of wider Chinese society and representative of a much bigger problem with corruption and nepotism.'

Surely, neither China's soccer skill nor its level of corruption is the worst in the world. In both areas it falls somewhere in the middle: According to FIFA, Chinese soccer ranks 84th in the world, just ahead of Mozambique, while the most recent Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index has China tied with Swaziland, among others, in 79th place.

Even though China didn't qualify for the World Cup, the government is heavily promoting the competition. CCTV, the state-run television network, airs the matches each night along with pre- and post-game commentary, while a number of domestic newspaper reporters have made the trek to South Africa.

Around Beijing, outdoor sellers of chuanr -- the Chinese version of shish kebabs and a mainstay snack in the capital -- have set up big-screen TVs to air the matches.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong held a 'Do Not Gamble' Fun Fair in a Wan Chai park on Saturday, according to a government press release. In an attempt to educate youngsters about the pitfalls of gambling, the government and several other agencies set up game booths and hosted the final match of the inter-school football league as well as some friendly matches involving 'celebrities, the Hong Kong Police and prominent local football players.'

中国未能参加今年的南非世界杯，但据警方宣布，成千上万人通过非法网络赌球来参与其中。

据官方媒体新华社报导，截至6月12日，警方已经查没非法赌资1.02亿美元，拘捕约3,600名与世界杯相关的非法赌博嫌疑人。

Reuters中国国家队在2008年的南非世界杯预选赛上的照片中国足球界的非法赌球简直跟球员的护腿板一样普遍，专家曾表示这也是中国在国际足球舞台上表现不佳的一个重要原因。由于被指打假球，以及有传言说球员花钱行贿以求进国家队，中国队的表现和可信度都遭遇打击。

然而这一点并未打消人们对网络赌球的兴趣。

据《法制日报》报导，一名警方官员对记者说，当前中国网络赌博违法犯罪活动形势依然非常严峻。他指责境外赌博集团向中国境内“渗透”。

虽然中国官员喜欢将非法行径归咎于外国人，但腐败在中国足球界也是源远流长。

据CNN报导，一本关于中国足球书籍的作者西蒙斯(Rowan Simons)说，传统上，有望进入中国国家队的球员都必须拿出几万元人民币贿赂官员。

报导中说，西蒙斯说曾有球员披露他们无法为国家队效力，因为出不起钱。

不过最近几桩影响很大的腐败案似乎吸引了官员的注意力。例如中国足球协会副主席南勇今年早些时候因受贿指控而被捕，迫使官员们誓言要清理足球运动。

最近几个月，体育媒体不断爆出重大的假球事件。在其中一桩最知名的案件中，警方说前世界杯裁判“金哨”陆俊受贿及黑哨执法。如果被判有罪，陆俊可能面临死刑。

据《体坛周报》报导，今年5月广东省警方打掉了一个与香港赌博公司有关联的赌博团伙。该赌博团伙每月在中国内地和香港之间流动的非法赌资达10亿美元；警方在调查中已冻结资金逾人民币14亿元（合2.05亿美元）。

西蒙斯对CNN说，每一级比赛都有腐败。反映了在中国更广泛层面存在的一个社会问题，代表了更为严重的腐败和任人唯亲问题。

当然，无论是中国的足球水平，还是其腐败程度，在全球范围内都不算最糟糕的。中国足球在这两方面都位于中游：中国足球在国际足球联合会(FIFA)的排名表中位列全球第84位，紧随其后的是莫桑比克，而最新的国际腐败印象指数(Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index)将中国与斯威士兰等国并列排在第79位。

虽然中国未能打进世界杯决赛阶段，但中国政府大力支持这项赛事。中国中央电视台(CCTV)每晚直播比赛，还有赛前和赛后评论，许多国内报纸的记者也前往南非报导世界杯。

北京各处的露天烤串儿店也搬出大屏幕电视供人们看比赛。烤串儿是北京人看球时首选的零食。

与此同时，香港政府的一篇新闻稿宣布，香港于6月12日在湾仔一个游乐场举办“睇波不赌波”嘉年华会。为了向青少年宣传赌博危害，政府和几家机构设置了游戏摊位，同场还举行了校际师生足球比赛的决赛，以及由知名人士、警队成员和本地知名足球员参与的足球友谊赛。